Gene Quintano

Gene Quintano (born 1946 as Eugene Francis Quintano Jr.) is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer and director. He is best known for writing sequels to the film Police Academy and directing the western Dollar for the Dead and action parody Loaded Weapon 1, both starring Emilio Estevez.

Career

3-D Films

Quintano was a Xerox salesman who had his own office supply company and was interested in getting into filmmaking. He was partners in a publishing firm with Tony Anthony, a filmmaker who had made a number of Spaghetti Westerns. Looking for an angle they decided to make a film in 3-D, believing many younger film goers would not be familiar with it. It resulted in Comin' at Ya!. Quintano and his partners worked for four years on the film, experimenting and testing the technology. They raised money to make the films, shot it in Spain and Rome, and sold it to Filmways.[1]

Quintano was a writer and producer on the film. He also starred in the film "mostly as a matter of economics."[2] The film was a surprise success at the box office, leading to a brief revival of 3-D films.[3]

Quintano wanted to follow it with a Topkapi-type film about people stealing an item on an island.[4] This became Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983). Quintano helped provide the story and produced, as well as appearing in the cast. The film was a box office disappointment.[5]

Screenwriter

Treasure had been distributed by Cannon Films, and Quintano wrote a series of films for that company, including the comedy Making the Grade (1984) and the adventure films King Solomon's Mines (1985) and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986).[6]

He wrote Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986) and Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987).[7]

Director

Quintano turned director with a TV movie For Better or for Worse (1989) aka Honeymoon Academy.

He followed it with Why Me? (1990) and Loaded Weapon 1 (1993). He did an uncredited rewrite on Cop and a Half (1993).

He was meant to write and direct a western for TNT, Scratch. He sold a script to Cinergi called Beauty for $500,000 as a vehicle for Bruce Willis. He also wrote films for Jean-Claude Van Damme (Quest) and John Candy (Our Father) and worked on a big screen adaptation of the comic Spy vs Spy.[8] None of these films were made.[9]

Quintano was a writer only on Operation Dumbo Drop (1995) and Sudden Death (1995) (originally called Arena).

He wrote and directed Dollar for the Dead (1998) and wrote The Long Kill (1999). Both were westerns.[10]

In 2001, Quintano wrote a kung-fu reimagining of The Three Musketeers for director Peter Hyams. The Musketeer was a critical and commercial failure.[11][12]

He wrote a TV movie Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (2002).

His last credit was on the family feature Funky Monkey, which ended up being released straight-to-video, despite its $30 million budget.

Filmography

Films
Title Year Director Writer Producer Notes
Comin' at Ya! 1981 Yes Executive Role: Pike Thompson
Treasure of the Four Crowns 1983 Story Yes Role: Edmond
Making the Grade 1984 Yes Yes
King Solomon's Mines 1985 Yes
Police Academy 3: Back in Training 1986 Yes
Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold 1986 Yes
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol 1987 Yes
Honeymoon Academy 1990 Yes Yes Direct-to-video
Why Me? 1990 Yes
Loaded Weapon 1 1993 Yes Yes
Operation Dumbo Drop 1995 Yes
Sudden Death 1995 Yes
The Musketeer 2001 Yes
Funky Monkey 2004 Yes Second unit director: France

Television
Title Year Director Writer Notes
Dollar for the Dead 1998 Yes Yes Television film
Outlaw Justice 1999 Yes Television film
The Wonderful World of Disney 2002 Yes Episode "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister"

References
  1. TRIO TAKES 3-D FILM TO MARKETs Caulfield, Deborah. Los Angeles Times 4 Apr 1981: b13.
  2. Movies' Next Dimension: Look Out, 3-D is 'Comin' at Ya!' 3-D 'Comin' at Ya!' By Christian Williams. The Washington Post 14 Aug 1981: C1.
  3. 'COMIN' AT YA' A SURPRISE HIT: FOLLOW-UPS Caulfield, Deborah. Los Angeles Times 6 Sep 1981: p22.
  4. 'COMIN' AT YA' A SURPRISE HIT: FOLLOW-UPS Caulfield, Deborah. Los Angeles Times 6 Sep 1981: p22.
  5. 3-D FILM FLOPS: EFFECT AND CAUSE Ryan, Desmond. Philadelphia Inquirer 30 Aug 1983: F.1.
  6. MOVIE REVIEWS: AN 'F' FOR ANOTHER GROSS SCHOOL SAGA Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 18 May 1984: sd_c9.
  7. PARTY OVER FOR THIN TEEN COMEDIES?: [Home Edition] Friendly, David T. Los Angeles Times 16 Oct 1986: 1.
  8. "Quintano builds from 'Scratch'". Variety. 9 July 1993.
  9. "Quintano to script 'Spy' pic". Variety. 11 November 1993.
  10. ESTEVEZ MOVIE MADE FOR CABLE TV PROVIDES A FISTFUL OF SERGIO LEONE: [FIVE STAR LIFT Edition] Nye, Doug; Knight Ridder Newspapers. St. Louis Post - Dispatch; St. Louis, Mo. [St. Louis, Mo]10 Oct 1998: 37.
  11. "The Musketeer (2001) - Weekend Box Office". Boxofficemojo.com. 2001-09-07. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  12. "The Musketeer". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
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